M-I-C.....K-E-Y.....M-O-U-S-E!

Well I'm happy to say a couple short weeks after looking into that Tupperware container and ending up with 2 tiny mice....I managed not to kill them and they are doing great! A boy & a girl, their beady little eyes opened 3 days after I got them.

 Since then they have grown into the cutest little things and will be ready to go soon.

A lot has happened over the last week! The girls were released Wednesday. My little Pip is out in the big world.....along with Dolci, Merry, Stony, May, Moose, Amy and Kinky. My little babies are out on their own...sniff, sniff....

No sooner did we juggle babies around and send my 2 pair and Laurie's pair, Tewky and Crooky, off with another rehabber when the Animal Rescue League showed up with a new batch...literally about 15 minutes later. So much for a little rest for the weary! A pair from Perkins School for the Blind where they had the mother exterminated. Laurie took them home. Also a single boy who was found by a couple girls who thought it would be great to take it home! The next day they called the ARL  complaining that it "destroyed" their house. OK....he's only about 4 weeks old, so he's not the one that destroyed anything. The "B" word comes to mind when thinking about these clueless ladies.......Luckily he's none the worse for his experience and settled in well here.

In the middle of all that another situation....a baby discovered stuck between the walls of a multi family home. No idea where mom is or if she is still around. Luckily Jim was able to rescue the little girl and get her safely to me. The situation was not ideal for attempting a reunite...and it was not even known if mom was still around to begin with. Springer is doing great as well and is the same age as the little boy from the ARL so they will be perfect together after quarantine.

Keeping an eye on another situation where a single kit was found. A re-unite is being attempted and if it's still there in the morning it will become the newest member to join the crew......

Whew.....It'll be nice to get back to work so I can relax! LOL

The cuteness is unbearable!

Well I am actually able to go inside River's pen without being mauled now. I won't be giving her hugs anytime soon, but we have reached an understanding. I do what I am told and bring food..... and I live! LOL

The babies are quite leery of me, but they follow mom's lead and come out for a little chow, followed by a little milk, and give me the chance to admire their total cuteness!

She is such a good mom and it is awesome to watch her interact with them! They are absolutely beautiful!

Gibby is great and was re-released Wednesday night. Hopefully he has learned his lesson and will try not to make friends with every strange raccoon he encounters?! Scrappy was out there last night to keep him company, as was Ringer....however I highly doubt Ringer was going to make him feel at home if he went anywhere near her!

Ringo has finally been spending his days away from home. Up until a few days ago he was always in the den box by day. LB was around and I think he finally egged him on to take the plunge and just go wild!

All the boys.

A lot of new raccoon activity these days! This past Sunday was pretty busy. Most of the day was spent working the heart worm clinic at Woburn Animal Hospital. But the wildlife doesn't stop for our busy schedules. While there, 2 little boys were brought in by Dick and his lovely wife. The boys were in the middle of the lawn, and after giving mom a night to fetch them and fending off opportunistic foxes, it was best to just get them to us. They weren't in terribly bad shape, but one was a little "off". Laurie ended up taking them home and both are doing well and eating great, however one does have a noticeable head tilt. It could possibly be trauma from falling from their tree. There are no noticeable external injuries or wounds. She'll be keeping a good eye on him, and paying close attention during their quarantine in case it's due to illness. But otherwise, Tewky and Crooky are quite comfortable and well fed!

Around the same time 2 baby mice were brought in. I just had to look in the container...and get suckered! I have managed to keep the little buggers alive this long and I'll post pics of those cuties later!

Shortly after getting home from the clinic Rocco arrived. A very cute, pudgy singleton who managed to survive in the walls of a home after his mother was removed, until he was able to be rescued. Rocco is a very good eater and has the cutest little chirp when he's hungry! He's about the same age as the boys all ready here so once his quarantine is over he'll have plenty of friends to play with!

On to the next day.....2 more boys from a frat house in Waltham after mom was removed. Again in pretty good shape and they settled in and started eating well.

So here's where we stand....and with pics finally! Good luck keeping it all straight....I barely can! LOL

Soldier (left in both) and Sammy out of quarantine and best buds already, although not "buddy" enough for Sammy to share his bottle by any means! Soldier is bigger but didn't stand a chance getting Sammy off that nipple!

So does Sammy have the cutest, most adorable face ever!!

Then we have the not so evil twins now! Brimstone & Spitfire are officially happy with their new mom and no longer trying to kill me! They still get a little pissy......but nothing compared to their first few days here! They are quite cute little fellas now. They are out of quarantine today and will be joining Soldier and Sammy in a bigger cage! Woohoo!

The pair that came in after Sammy are doing great also. I haven't named these boys.They will be moving on to another rehabber and I don't want to get even more attached only to send them on (ha! too late!).The frat boys will also be going with them. He can only take a very limited number of coonies so it's a matter of juggling and rearranging them in good groups. These guys will be perfect and will get lots more attention with him...and that will in turn free up more room here for more of  the inevitable babies to come .....

So all 9 of the older babies are boys! I think my basement has become the new frat house! The 2 pair will be moving on Saturday and by then Brim, Spit, Sammy and Soldier will be in a big cage eagerly awaiting Rocco to join them after his quarantine.

We also had another horrible chain saw incident. These guys were not so heartless though. They immediately contacted John the ACO and were horrified by what happened. Mom managed to escape uninjured, a couple of the babies were killed instantly, 2 were totally uninjured, and 2 others injured....one requiring it's hand being sewn up and the other needed to be euthanized. John got them to Woburn Animal Hospital for treatment right away and I met him there with a reuniting box. Mom escaped uninjured so hopefully she would come back for the surviving 3. I'm thrilled to report she wasted no time collecting them once the coast was clear! Kudos to everyone who helped turn this tragedy into a happier ending than it could have been! Once again, thanks to Dr. Rice for  fixing up the little one!

The squirrel update!

I have to say I've been getting a little frustrated with Blogger! Seems every time I try to update it is not working. So better late than never....finally an update on the squirrels!

Sweetie, Luci, Wombat and his sister have graduated to the outdoor release pen with some of JoAnn's squirrels. One big happy family they should be ready to go in about a week!

The three little kids, Pee Wee and his sisters, are doing great! They've graduated to a bigger cage with trees and climbing room and will probably go out to a release pen in about a week with JoAnn's next batch. Pee Wee has done amazing and caught right up to his sisters. He's not the tiny little man any more!

It's been crazy with coons here lately and I'll get their update on here soon!

Gibby gets fixed!

Despite the antibiotics, Gibby's wound just wasn't healing very well like they usually do. It was getting worse.  So on Tuesday, off we go to get it checked and cleaned up. Once he was down for the count....

 .....it was clipped, scrubbed and flushed like crazy to get all the gunk out.

 A much better looking wound!

By the time I got him home he was already up and about and....don't be shocked.....went right for his food! Priorities ya know! LOL

Thanks so much Dr. Rice and Maris for making him feel much better!

He's healing much faster now. He needed some hot packs for a couple days to keep it draining....luckily he's a very good patient....but it's all dried up now and he'll be good to go in no time I think.

The meet and greet!

It's hard to believe how far the youngest babies have come. It's not until I look at the pictures of the day they arrived that I realize how much they have actually grown! No problem climbing out of their carrier at feeding time now. Lucky is nice and chunky.

Porcelain is fluffy and still quite white.

Her sister Pebbles is just as fluffy but normal colors.

Ducky is the little guy here in the middle of all his sisters. It was time for the little kids to meet their roommates!

Sis here (next to Troopers big ole butt!).....

.....and her sister Doc the one eared raccoon.

And a better view of Trooper, the biggest of them all.

A big cute pile of coonie kits getting to know each other.

The biggest boy Trooper next to the littlest, Lucky & Ducky. He was less than thrilled about the introductions as he stood there frozen, not even looking at them as they clamored toward him. The biggest coon is the biggest chicken! LOL

A very white Porcelain gets a hug (I know what it looks like, but they are just babies people, get your minds outta the gutter! LOL) from her much darker sister Pebbles.

Trooper finally decides he's had enough and gets the heck outta dodge. That's the first time you'll see a squirmy, playful baby actually want to go back into his "den" without peeling him off you and forcing him back in there!

The boat babies are being fostered by another rehabber for the time being. Just until they are weaned then they will come back here to join the rest of the gang. He has a little more time on his hands to spoil them, clearing up room and time for me to deal with all the older ones coming in.

No pictures yet....but Soldier is doing great. The 2 evil twins, Brimstone and Spitfire, are much better! Not best buds yet, but they are fairly pleasant to me now with an occasional warning growl if I move too suddenly or in a manner they don't approve of. The other little boy has been named Sammy after another brave little coonie, born wild last spring and thought to have perished. It was then discovered he had survived on his own, blind with cataracts, through to just recently when he was tragically found dead. He was a member of Phillip & Michelle's local coonie family, one of Sweetie's babies who regularly visits them and often brings the kids around to show them off. Gone but not forgotten Sammy....you were amazing against incredible odds!

And we have 2 new boys that came in yesterday. A little younger than Sammy and the twins. As usual....mom was killed then the babies were discovered in the attic. Luckily the people took good care of them and they are in great shape.

In 2 weeks, barring any illness, the older 6 can become one group.

The boat babies and more....

You would have had this update sooner, if not for Blogger screwing up after I spent what precious few minutes of free time I had to post it, then loosing it altogether....uugghhhh! Now that we're back up and running, lets try it again!

Thursday night a woman found this cutie pie wandering around and brought him in to the Animal Rescue League, who in turn brought this very sweet and adorable guy to me. I have since named him Soldier....after an epic battle to get him to take the bottle, and a valiant effort on his part.....this little soldier put up a great fight but was no match for a very determined me! He's about 8wks already so hopefully it won't be long before he's nibbling solids anyway.

On may way home from work Tuesday, I had to swing by and pick these little ones up. The boat that was their home was towed from Everett, and when the guys got out to gas up in Lexington they discovered the stowaways. I can only hope mom managed to run off with a baby first, knowing how frantic she will be having lost them all! 2 boys and 2 girls in excellent shape. They are the perfect size to join Lucky, Ducky, Pebbles and Porcelain after quarantine.

The revolving door of intakes continued Friday with 2 more deliveries.....1 little 6wk old boy from the Lexington ACO and 2 very mean boys about the same age from the Wellesley ACO.

The single boy acted all mean and nasty, but after one taste of refreshing pedialyte he's all love bug now. The other 2 are downright evil! LOL They have done nothing but try to kill me if I get too close....even after wrestling them into my lap and thoroughly enjoying their pedialyte! We had a little breakthrough today though. They are starting to realize the big scary monster is giving them yummy stuff to drink and I actually managed to get them to take a bottle without having them lunge and bite at me.....just a lot of warning snarls! But still....it was a voluntary march into my lap to get it, I didn't have to scruff them and haul them out!......we'll be best buds in no time! (fingers crossed! LOL). Poor little guys are just terrified....it is not an easy trip for most in the time between loosing mom and making it to rehab.

So I'm up to 15 coonies and 7 squirrels. (not counting River and her 4...I don't have to do anything but enjoy watching them!) Laurie has 3 coonies now and about 20 squirrels and I think JoAnn, Lisa and Mary probably have close to that many also. We're in the thick of it now!

 

Boys gone wild.

And they're off! Tash, Gibby, Andy, Ringo and LB are finally out in the real world! (sort of). The weather was good and it was just plain old time for them to go. They have been more than patient while waiting for Rivers babies to be old enough to be mobile so she would not be so freaked out by them hanging around should they decide to harass them like Vin did! So last Friday the 6th the world became their playground and they were loving it!

By the end of the night, Andy and Gibby had made their way out back by the main feeding station....

....much to Belle's dismay! LOL She was less than thrilled by the company! She was a good girl though and didn't whip their butts like she could have. Instead she settled for a little meal away from the interlopers.The next morning everyone but Gibby was back home. One in the hammock, LB on top of the cage, and the other 2 in the den box! So much for out in the wild! Gibby was the only brave one to spend the night away from home in a tree out back by the feeding station....but he didn't seem to mind....quite comfortable actually!

For the past week they have been out all night and back in the pen to sleep off the day. Gibby and Tash were the first to not return to the pen after a few nights, and as of a couple nights ago, Andy has not returned to spend the days. Yesterday it was LB and Ringo still using the den box but when I went out this morning it was only Ringo in there.

Then there is Gibby......

Tuesday night I went out to check on everybody and found Gibby in the den box...and he didn't look good. He was obviously very painful and not moving much at all. I managed to get him into a carrier and into the basement where Laurie and I could check him out better. There were no apparent injuries at first and his color was good. He was so pathetic though....enough to convince me to comfort him all night....sleeping in my arms on the loveseat in the basement. I'm glad it helped him to sleep, becasue I sure as hell didn't get much!

I was convinced I had been played big time by a con-coon, but I did eventually find some spots where someone apparently chewed on him a little. So it looks like he just got beat up and has a little infection going.

After a couple days of pain meds and some antibiotics, he's already feeling better....although he's still trying to milk it by getting me to hold him and baby him.......! Too busy though. Have a new litter of baby raccoons to get settled....

Sneak peak....

I was not brave enough to go into the cage and risk the wrath of River, but I did manage to get a couple halfway decent shots with my cell phone! While River was enjoying a chicken wing, one of the babies was eagerly licking up the scraps behind her and playing in the outdoor den box.
It's tough getting pictures because they are still hanging out primarily in the inside section which is dark and opening the door wide enough to get enough light in there means putting my life at risk...lol.
What a good momma!

The local town paper, The Billerica Minuteman, did a wonderful story on us then had us on the local AM radio program to talk about our cause! It was great and I wish I could find a link online to show you all but it doesn't appear to be posted online. If I manage to find it I will share it with you all...or maybe I can just type the story in here when I get a spare minute.....(in the fall maybe! LOL).